On my studio table

At the end of March I shipped out all my recent works out to artstream and my studio walls were once again blank. I cleaned up the studio, rearranged furniture, took a few days off as my littlest was on spring break. But then about a week ago I got back to what I do.

studio table 4.10.15

I was invited to show some small works out in Evanston, IL at a place called Gather. I love the concept of Gather which has a gallery area called The Nest and was happy to hear from the owner who had once taken one of my workshops when I was still in Chicago. Angela is an art therapist and I remembering talk to her at length about art therapy as I was seriously thinking about going back to school for that. Obviously didn’t happen, but it’s still on my radar. I believe that art can be such a powerful portal. Maybe one day I’ll pursue it. The show will be in June, in time for one of the big summer art walks in Evanston. Thinking about the concept of Gather, I decided that I wanted to get back to my bowls and vessels. And I wanted to make a departure from my recent work and be more playful and brighter. I always switch gears after I finish one body of work. It’s like how I rearrange my studio and redirect the energy flow. I need to rearrange my brain a bit and redirect the energy flow.

studio table 4.13.15

My 5 year old daughter is obsessed with drawing pigs and toting around one of her many piggies that she has. Quite the opposite of me, she loves to wear all shades of pink and red. I usually wear grey, black and brown. I always laugh to myself when I see our reflections in mirrors and windows. I think all the pinkness that she has brought into my life is infiltrating my palette!

studio table 4.14.15

Working this way is more of a struggle for me. But I enjoy it all the same.

“Creativity is a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.” ~Arthur Koestler

4 Comments

Very interesting to read your process. Loved that quote from Koestler. How true. I do so enjoy your work.A question or three: do you work with a ventilation system or just fans & open window? Also is that brown paper lining your work table. Is a fire extinquisher necessary? I thank you.

Hi Pat, I use both- a fan in my window and a ventilation, depends on my mood, the weather, etc. I have a ventilation exhaust above my table. Unfortunately I'm one of those people where I hate the sound of exhausts. When I cook in the kitchen it bugs me, in the shower, etc! But I do use it. When I'm in one of my moods where I can't stand that whirring noise, I use the fan in the window. I buy big rolls of brown kraft paper at Home Depot in the painting section. They also have rolls of paper that are more red colored, it's called rosen paper. Every few weeks, I pull the paper off and replace it with new paper so I can have a clean surface. And yes, I have a fire extinguisher under my table. I've never had to use it, knock on wood, but I have it!

thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I am so new to encaustic and I guess timid about the drawbacks, but I love and admire your work so, that i wanted to try it. I do paint. I used to use oils but now use acrylics due to safety. Dont really care too much for them, loved oils. But dispite all am taking the step. (BTW have taken many classes from Seth.)He enjoys your art and collaborations, think that is how I started following you.Thanks again.

I hear you on the drawbacks of working in both oils and encaustic. The important thing is to know and adhere to safe studio practices. have you taken any workshops with anybody in your area? That is helpful too to see it all done as well as see how a studio is setup. If you want, email me and maybe I can connect you with someone in your area. Seth is the best!